So I forgot to post this picture last night, but I figured I should do it because we are watching Dr. Who now and look guys, TARDIS.  This happened on Friday night, outside the Zombie Prom.

Anyways, onto Saturday!

So since Saturday was long and more or less divided into two parts (parade and then later) I’ll be writing two posts for Saturday.  I woke up waaaay too early for Dragon*Con to get dressed and into my Melisandre costume and hustle the fifteen or so minute walk over to the park where the parade was lining up.  We had to be there by 9:45 and I strolled in around 9:30 I’d say, so not too shabby.  On my way out of the Sheraton I ran into Svetlana of Kamui Cosplay.  She’s a German cosplayer who primarily does World of Warcraft costumes and whose tutorials have been invaluable to Jon.  I was way too excited to meet her and snapped a quick picture of her and her husband, Benni.  Svetlana seemed surprised that I recognized her out of costume, but she does all her video tutorials out of costume, so it isn’t that weird.

I was a little worried I’d get lost going to the parade but soon hooked up with two extremely sparkly Pink Lanterns who were on their way to the parade.  By the way, why did I never before know that Lanterns can be many colors besides yellow and green?  I guess I am showing my general ignorance of comic book lore, sigh.

The parade had 42 (I believe) groups spanning all aspects of fan-dom: Tolkien, Wheel of Time, Dr. Who, videogames, internet memes, animation, anime, Marvel superheroes, DC superheroes, Star Wars, Star Trek, an actual marching band or two, a few groups of LARPers (Live Action Role-Players) who staged combat, lots of vehicles including numerous Ghostbuster mobiles…you name it, it was probably there.  The only negative about being in the parade is not getting to see the parade!

I quickly found my Game of Thrones group (basically just look for the people who look like you!) and spent the rest of the time before the parade started at 10:00 fixing my makeup, running around taking pictures for the Photo Scavenger Hunt, and chatting with my marching buddies.

So my red contacts looked incredible in person but don’t show that well in photos, so y’all will have to trust me when I say that I was sporting some fierce red eyes.

Around 10:10 we started marching.  We were number 19, behind the Battlestar Galactica Group (So say we all!) and in front of the Cruxshadows Fairies (Come see the Cruxshadows!)  We had a Theon who was very vocal, yelling things about the coming of winter (I wish, guys it was hot!) and his love for the Stark family (hurr).  I took a few pictures of the crowds along the parade route.  I cannot believe all the people who were packed onto the streets of downtown Atlanta–and not just congoers, but Atlanta residents and their families!  More than a few (HBO subscribers presumably) recognized us and gleefully shouted “Winter is coming!”

The parade is about a half a mile long and passes in front of the Hyatt on Peachtree before turning and walking alongside the Marriott.  By the time we passed the Hyatt I was a sweaty mess.  Wig + crushed velvet dress + tight waist cincher + slightly uncomfortable contacts + glittery eye makeup that burns when you sweat = unhappy Lindsay.  While I was totally digging on the crowds and the recognition and the general positive energy of the event, I was ready for some air conditioning!  I think much of the rest of my group felt the same, as we were all in layers and fur and wigs and armor…minus the Daenerys (Daeneri?) who were cool and comfortable in their Dothraki gear!

The parade ends in the back entrance of the Marriott, and there were volunteers passing out water bottles so that we nerds could hydrate ourselves.  I bid a quick farewell to my fellow marchers, as I knew I’d see many of them at the 4:30 Game of Thrones photo meet-up, and chased after the Warhammer 40K group.  Since Jon was out watching the parade I figured the best thing I could do was take a bunch of pictures of the Warhammer folks, so he would know what sorts of costumes he’d be marching with next year.

The Warhammer people headed up to the Marriott Atrium level for their photoshoot.  I came to the aid of an Acolyte(? seriously guys, my Warhammer knowledge is limited) who was carrying some weapons (?) including a shrunken skull named Bob.  The weapons had fallen apart during the march and I soon found myself the protector of Bob.

However, once the photo shoot started I returned Bob to his rightful owner and found myself taking pictures for lots of people in the group.  I daresay they all looked really awesome, even if they are the “good” guys (according to Jon, he was going to costume as a Dark Eldar baddie so, you know, enemies!).  These guys were “for the Emperor” or something…I dunno, they looked cool, and Jon is into it, so it is good enough for me!

I know those pictures are tiny but if you click them you’ll get a nice, big, detailed image!  Since Jon was still watching the parade I hung about in the Atrium, enjoying the air conditioning and chatting with the Warhammer folks.  Oh, also, a giant posse of Iron People walked by:

Eventually Jon and Marc joined me and I was happy to hear that Jon had filmed most of the parade, huzzah!  By this point is was lunch time (or maybe I was hungry because I had been up since 7:00) so we went to the food court to get some lunch.   I was such a sweaty mess from the parade that after lunch I decided to return to the room to shower and nap for a bit for the rest of the day’s activities.  Yes, I took my wig and all my makeup off.  I know, intense.  And, of course, I snapped a few more pictures on the way back to the room:

Time to leave you in suspense for the rest of Saturday’s antics!